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Boys basketball: Conant tips Lake Park in double OT to cap first MSL/DuKane challenge

Seniors Nate Hahn and Saahas Talluri kept the Cougars together as they led Conant to a 47-43 come-from-behind victory in double overtime over Lake Park in the finale of the DuKane Conference vs. MSL Shootout on Saturday in Roselle.

The dynamic duo combined for 26 points and came together on the game-deciding play as Talluri sank a layup in the closing seconds of the second overtime period.

“Credit to my teammates and coaches, they all noticed there was a mismatch on me,” said Talluri. “They brought me down to the paint, I think it was Nate that passed me the ball. From there, I just did what I had to do and I just put the ball up.”

It was the Lancers (6-11) with momentum on their side early on, as junior Freddy Battaglia set the tone in the paint. He led Lake Park with 13 points on the evening, including 8 in the second quarter and a layup as the half expired, as the Lancers jumped out to a 25-16 lead at halftime.

“They did a really good job of getting into the post,” said Hahn. “That’s where they wanted it and we knew that was their game plan, so coming into the second half we knew that we had to shut down the post.”

“They had great passes and they executed their stuff well, and they got second chances,” said Conant coach Greg Grana, about the Lancers. “They do a lot of things well and they showed it there, especially in that second quarter.”

However, the energy in the gym shifted in the third, as Grana and the Cougars dialed up the intensity on defense and slowly chipped away at the Lancers’ lead.

“The [halftime] message was ‘we have to get back to what we do’ and we can't focus on anything other than what we do,” said Grana. “And what we do is we pressure the ball, and we do it in the full court.”

The Cougars (10-7) brought an aggressive press the length of the court and forced the Lancers to work for every point the rest of the way, as Lake Park began having difficulty closing out possessions.

“It’s hard on our guys, it's exhausting, it's tiring, but that's how they want to play basketball, they want to play tough, hard-nosed, defensive basketball,” added Grana.

The second half was frustrating for Lake Park coach Billy Pitcher.

“We’ve been in this situation a bunch this year and we’re just having a difficult time finishing games,” said Pitcher. “We were up eight and they got four straight turnovers, [leading to] four straight two-point conversions between free throws and baskets.

“It’s just a really tough one to swallow, up that big late and we can't take care of the ball to finish the game.”

This was Conant’s first overtime game of the season.

“We talked about it,” said Grana. “Every year there's one or two…we were anticipating it coming soon.”

His message to the team after their gutsy performance?

“Stay together,” said Grana. “That’s really what we did there in the third quarter. We got in at halftime, we stayed together and it showed in our defensive pressure.”

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